Azure O’Neil is a badass. She has traveled through 31 countries on two and four-wheels, including a multi-year journey on her 1989 Honda Transalp. In addition to her love for overlanding, Azure enjoys paddleboarding, scuba diving, moto-camping, and planning her next big trip. You can follow her adventures on Instagram @MyTicketToRide. I met Azure at the 2023 Overland Expo, where she is the Director of Programming. Recently, we spent ten days tent camping through Baja. We kayaked Loreto...

Author Doreen Cunningham's beautiful volume is a luminous depiction of an epic grey whale migration and an intensely powerful memoir of reclaiming a life battered by poverty and isolation. It is a shining testament to the healing properties of the natural world. Soundings is the story of a woman reclaiming her life, a child growing to love an ocean that is profoundly endangered, and a mother learning from another species how to parent in a time of unprecedented change. Learn more about...

Basil's Garage, located in Vista, California, is your one-stop shop for all your Baja Overland rig build needs. As a specialized vehicle outfitter, Basil's offers practical, simple, and capable off-road vehicle builds for long-term remote travel, from selecting the right vehicle to suspension configuration and camp setup to planning every minute detail. They offer in-house advanced electrical system design, lighting, suspension, wheels/tires, bar work, armor, fabrication, camp accessories,...

Troubadour Steve Poltz has a legendary Baja tale involving a whale-watching excursion that went comically awry. As he infers, it might not have been as comical as it sounds today in today’s Slow Baja conversation. In the early 90’s, Poltz was a singer-songwriter with a massive cult following in his adopted home of San Diego. He and his girlfriend at the time, a little-known folk singer named Jewel, decided to go on a getaway to write some songs for a few days. Without much of a plan, they...

Sungodz California is the creation of Surfer, turned Fashion Photographer, turned Designer Sasha Eisenman. Sasha grew up in Huntington Beach and began surfing in the Newport River Jetties in the mid-1980s. He traveled camping and Surfing all throughout Baja back in those days, and many of the experiences of this time would later become a foundational part of Sungodz California style. An esthetic that was further shaped during his time working at the legendary Frog House surf shop in Newport...

In today’s Slow Baja Podcast, we discuss the future of Overlanding with Lance Gillies, the Founder and CEO of EarthCruiser Overland Vehicles. We recorded our conversation at the Chicago Auto Show while sitting inside the new EV Hummer EarthCruiser Upfit built by EarthCruiser Innovation.  ECI is a new division of EarthCruiser that draws from decades of Overlanding experience, bringing together people and resources to nurture a culture of innovation. Their first project was collaborating with...

In today's Slow Baja conversation, we turned the tables, and my good friend, Wilson Craig, interviewed me about the origins of Slow Baja. I discuss my childhood, becoming a photographer in high school, and attending San Diego State University.  In the Summer of 1984, I made my first trip to Tijuana --to shop for a laundry basket and to drink, of course. Soon, we were venturing down to Puerto Nuevo for lobster and, eventually, to Ensenada for a weekend on the beach. The true origins of Slow...

In today's Slow Baja Podcast Conversation, I feel like I need to start adding a disclaimer to my recordings. "Slow Baja is not responsible for your desires to blow up your life and move to Baja. Please listen to these shows at your peril; Slow Baja LLC and Slow Baja Adventures are not responsible for feelings of irrational exuberance for living near cacti or an irrepressible desire to surf regularly or fish from a kayak daily." Or consider the version sent by my legal team: No part of the...

Longtime riding buddies Chris Gardner and Dom O'Mahoney share a harrowing tale from a Baja ADV ride gone wrong. "When it's time to shut it down --when you are on your last redundant backup plan --it's not time to keep carrying on and bombing down these roads. Our ride was over, but we were just overwhelmed with fun, and we lost sight of that." -Chris Gardner on an ADV Ride For The Ages. Strap in as these two highly experienced riders talk about how they were having too much fun to shut it...

Today’s show is with Slow Baja Alum David Kier. This is David’s third visit to the show and today he joins us to talk about the 50th Anniversary of the Transpeninsular Highway. Kier began exploring Baja with his parents in the mid-60s. In 1966 David’s father took the challenge to drive to La Paz in their Jeep Wagoneer. Sitting between his folks on the front seat –his copy of Gerhard and Gulick’s Baja Bible in his lap, young David was given the responsibility for navigating for the entire...

Sal Fish, the Godfather, is back for his second conversation on Slow Baja. This time, we met above the beach at his place in La Paz. We picked up where our previous conversation ended around 1969. At the time, Sal worked for Petersen Publications as the Publisher of Car Craft and later Hot Rod Magazine. One day, while visiting Revel, the model company, with Bob Weggeland, his advertising salesman, the company’s owners asked Sal and Bob to race the Baja Bug in the NORRA Mexican 1000. He knew...

At age 8, Bob Bower read about the Bill Stroppe Lincoln teams that dominated the 1953 Mexican Carrera Panamericana and later learned about the Baja 1000 race to La Paz. It became a fixation with him to be part of it someday.  Living the life of a Corvette enthusiast, Bower caught the eye of BFGoodrich at a time when the Brand was in the early stages of marketing performance tires to car clubs. He accepted the offer to go to work for BFG in 1977 and found himself at the Mint 400 as a pit...

In 1978, shortly after graduating as an oceanologist, Antonio Reséndiz Senior went to live in Bahía de los Ángeles. They called him "Crazy" Reséndiz since he arrived with almost nothing and lived in a tent on the beach.  Commercial exploitation of the turtle had skyrocketed, and the species was on the brink of extinction. The National Fisheries Institute and Reséndiz created the first Center for the Study and Conservation of Sea Turtles in Bahía de los Ángeles. Today, the sea turtle is...

Trudi Angell makes her third visit to the Slow Baja Podcast to discuss her new "retirement project," The Museo Antigua Californio in Loreto, BCS. Trudi is well known in Baja as the longtime owner and "Bell Mare" guide-in-residence of the mule-packing outfitters Saddling South. Through her travels into the remote mountains of the Sierra de Giganta, she befriended Dario, a gregarious rancher and "keeper of the old ways" who became the subject of her fabulous documentary film La Recua....

Today’s Slow Baja conversation is with Kurt Williams. He owns Cruiser Outfitters, a legendary company specializing in parts and services for Toyota Land Cruisers. I am eternally grateful to Kurt and his staff at Cruiser Outfitters, who were instrumental in sorting (and sponsoring) my suspension upgrades last year.  Williams, a lifelong Utah resident, bought his first Land Cruiser Fj40 at age 15. He’s an intrepid traveler (40 countries and counting) and an integral team member of E-7...

We meet Brandon Thomason and Nathan Stuart in today’s Slow Baja conversation. Brandon owns and operates TopoTerra, a leading off-grid vehicle and camping gear rental provider. Based in San Diego, California, with operations in Colorado, TopoTerra “has the rig and the gear to help you escape the daily grind.” Whether you are looking for an off-road vehicle, a rooftop tent, a camper van, a trailer, or an off-highway adventure vehicle, they have you covered! Their slogan says, “Adventure is our...

Zihul Martinez is the man to know in Guerrero Negro. He is a highly-respected wilderness guide who can show you the whales, the cave paintings, the pronghorn, or, as he says, "the magic of the central desert."   Born in Chiapas, Mexico, Martinez moved to Mexico City at fourteen to attend school. Later, he joined the Mexican Army and had a twenty-one-year career, eventually retiring in Guerrero Negro --the location of his last post. He says he loved the place and the people and decided to...

Note: Strong language warning. We bleeped the F-bombs but left the other swear words unbleeped! In this Slow Baja Podcast conversation, I sit down with off-road personality and Shreddy brand founder Blake Wilkey and filmmaker extraordinaire Michael Squier. The duo teamed up to run a Manx Remastered in the 2023 NORRA Mexican 1000 Slow Baja Safari Class. From Squier, we get an update on the smashing success of his Baja Bug Movie. And a brief history lesson on Bruce Meyer's record Baja run...

Adam Sheard, a Brit by birth, has always had an affinity for old vehicles. He runs Speed Deluxe, a full-service motorcycle shop in Chattanooga, Tennessee, specializing in custom builds, restorations, and fabricating unique solutions.  He started Speed Deluxe Vintage Adventures to combine epic road trips with vintage motorcycles. Harking back to the days of multi-day enduro events --where you have to fix your bike as you go and make it to pre-scheduled stop points each evening. The grueling...

"Experience life in the old west with us, riding through 1000 acres of privately owned ranch land and wilderness. Wide open spaces, epic vistas, and sightings of grass-fed cattle, pasture horses, wildflowers & a variety of birds all await your soul." -Baja by Horse. Marty found her way to Baja in 1961 when her parents bought a lot in La Mision and built a simple vacation house.  She would steal her father's garden hose and lasso local horses to keep herself entertained. Marty would...

“Evan Christenson is a dirtbag who believes that the slower you ride, the more you take away. He’s also a photographer and a burnt-out roadie who’s bikepacked on four continents.” -Bikepacking.com We met in 2021 while Evan rode the Baja Divide on a 1700-mile first date with his new girlfriend. I was on the BajaXL Rally and was happy to share a little Fortaleza Anejo to celebrate our meeting. I was delighted to run into Evan again in February at Casa Concepcion. We were going in opposite...

The Hotel Seven Crown is an laid-back boutique hotel beautifully located on the famous La Paz Malecon. With clean architectural lines and updated rooms, some featuring spectacular bay views. A stay at the Seven Crown puts you in the heart of the lively La Paz waterfront. We arrived as one of the many Fiestas celebrating the 488th Anniversary of La Paz was underway. With scores of street closures, Ted had to do some seat-of-the-pants-navigating to get us to the hotel. A security guard...

When Patty Mercier jumped in Loren Upton’s 1966 Jeep CJ5, she knew she was in for an adventure. The man behind the wheel was on his fourth attempt to cross the Darién Gap. The first three trips had ended in death and disaster, but Upton, an intrepid adventurer, would not be deterred.  In addition to his determination to cross the treacherous Darién Gap entirely on land, Upton had raised the stakes on this voyage. For his fourth attempt, he decried that he would drive one American-made...

Please enjoy this archive edition of Slow Baja with Mary McGee. The Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame just voted McGee into the class of 2023, and I am delighted to share this Slow Baja conversation that originally aired on 1 August 2022. Mary McGee is an American motorsport racing pioneer. She was the first woman to compete in motorcycle road racing and motocross events in the United States. McGee started as a sports car racer in 1957. She drove the finest cars of the period. McGee raced...